


he saved me first, you know

by hellbeast



Series: no blade, no light verse [3]
Category: Mugen no Juunin | Blade of the Immortal
Genre: Barely Canon Compliant, F/M, Gen, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2019-08-02 03:08:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16297058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hellbeast/pseuds/hellbeast
Summary: It is enough. To save Kagehisa, she willmakeit enough.





	he saved me first, you know

> I defy the stars;
> 
> I defy Heaven and Hell.
> 
> The laws of the universe say that the man I love is lost to me.
> 
> I say:
> 
> Watch me save him.
> 
> — _he saved me first, you know_ c.k

* * *

Manji's palm is broad and warm and rough skinned and his mouth is cracked and split and he slips liquid into her mouth, his tongue laving open her lips and his cheek is a dry rasp of stubble against her face. He licks at her lips as he pulls away.

Makie has killed men for less.

But there is no heat in Manji's gaze, no possessiveness or ardor, just fondness and no small amount of mischief. Makie's grip on Haru-no-Okina convulses, and she is torn between anger and embarrassment. It's hardly her first kiss, but ever since Kagehisa paid her way to freedom—ever since he uncaged her and then walked away—she's been... alone. No shortage of offers, and she'd given herself in exchange for goods, but.

(I've taken a wife, Kagehisa had told her, not even bothering to hold her gaze. Not even bothering to face her. He hadn't seen the way she'd staggered back as though struck, he hadn't seen the way her hands had trembled.

He'd said it like an afterthought.

He could be so cruel, that man. Lashing out first so that he could not be hurt in turn.)

“Doctor’s orders,” Manji tells her, and licks the residue of whatever he slipped her off his own lips. Then he grins, mouth curling impishly to bare white teeth. "Go wild."

Makie opens her mouth to—to what, berate him? _thank_ him?—but says nothing, for when she takes that first breath—

There is no rattle. Her lungs take in air greedily, having been so long deprived. Magic, it surely must be, she thinks. Nothing else could cure her of the illness that she had resigned herself to. And surely enough, upon taking another breath, she realizes that it is not perfect. There is still the faintest of twinges along her sore ribs, and though there is no pain when she flexes her scarred and ragged fingers, she still cannot stretch them to their full length.

A stopgap. An abating of pain. Not a miracle.

It is enough. To save Kagehisa, she will _make_ it enough.

“… Thank you, Manji-san.” She says, knowing that the words can only express a small fraction of her gratitude, for the mere chance to save Kagehisa is worth more to her than can be put into words. Perhaps Manji understands, because he holds her gaze for one, endless moment and then his mouth twists to the side, into something that is both grin and grimace.

“Show ‘em who they’re fuckin’ around with,” is what he says instead. In his eyes is that same gleam that Kagehisa has always regarded her with: the bone-deep knowledge that she is unstoppable, and the desire to watch her prove it, time and again.

And, Makie thinks, twisting Haru-no-Okina and sweeping her gaze over Kagimura’s men assembled before her, who is she to deny them?

**Author's Note:**

> this is technically meta for the _no blade, no light_ verse. i have a handful of them, and they're basically slight reimaginings of canon/a glimpse into how much of canon i am just straight up disregarding (which, admittedly, is a lot less than i would with another series. what can i say, samura does good work).
> 
> as always, [hmu on tumblr](www.manymouths.tumblr.com)!


End file.
